This application is related to my earlier filed application of the same title, Ser. No. 10/066,903, filed Feb. 4, 2002.
This invention relates to hanger apparatus that is mountable on a door, frame, wall, hinges, and the like and, in particular, to mountable hanger apparatus of which the support arms can swivel or rotate independent of each other and a kit of parts therefore.
Individuals are often searching for additional space in their homes to hang articles of clothing (such as coats, towels and other articles) due to the lack of closet space or overcrowded closets or simply for organization or ease of access in a specific location.
Many prior art devices designed for attachment to or supported by door hinges for the placement and storage of articles have been proposed. Early devices were designed to be clamped onto hinge pins of doors for supporting devices such a clothes drying racks, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,521 to Hanson. However, as shown in the Hanson structure, the clothes drying rack was only useful in supporting small articles. A more recent device shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,225 to Johnson is designed to be clamped on the ends of door hinges for support of an elongated rod which has a plurality of support racks extended therefrom for supporting clothes hangers, shelves, tie racks, and other appliances and devices. However, the Johnson device is designed to be attached to the door hinge by clamping a support bracket shown in FIG. 2, around each end of the door hinge pin, and, therefore, cannot support very much weight.
A still further device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,696 to Milbourne, which replaces the door hinge pin itself with an extended end portion of a support frame. Simplified versions of door hinge pin supported devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,270,802 to Kristensen and 3,044,630 to Szabo.
Although each of the foregoing prior art devices disclose article hangers and article storage devices designed to be supported by or as a replacement for door hinge pins to store articles behind a door, each of the prior art devices presents certain drawbacks to their use. For example, the Hanson and Johnson devices cannot support any significant weight, due to the fact that they are designed to be clamped over the ends of the door hinge pins. The device disclosed by Milbourne cannot support a great amount of weight, due to the fact that the longitudinal axis of the main support bar is spaced a great distance from the longitudinal axis of the hinge pins thereby reducing its rigidity. The early prior art devices of Kirstensen and Szabo present small singular hook devices that only provide for a minimal amount of storage for support of a minimal number of articles.
One solution to the need for extra hanging space is disclosed in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,212 entitled xe2x80x9cModular Article Support Unitxe2x80x9d issued on Jan. 26, 1988. This patent discloses a modular article support unit comprising an elongated tubular member adapted to be removably attached to the hinge pins of a door by means of adjustable brackets. The elongated tubular member has a plurality of holes along the length thereof for removably attaching several different types of support devices such as coat hooks, towel racks, bulletin boards, and mirrors. While this invention has adequately served the need for hanging space for several years, there are some disadvantages with the same. For example, the modular article support unit must be mounted in a fixed location, i.e., in the hinges of a door. This limits an individual""s ability to locate the support unit in any desired location. Further, the support devices attached to the support unit are likewise limited in that they are fixedly mounted thereto.
Another solution to the need for extra hanging space is disclosed in another patent of mine U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,398, entitled xe2x80x9cHanger Apparatus and Method of Mounting the Samexe2x80x9d issued on Mar. 6, 2001. The hanger apparatus comprises two end poles each having an angled mounting bracket attached thereto. Mounted between each end pole is a plurality of middle poles or spacers and a plurality of hanger bars pivotally mounted between the end poles and middle poles. The angled brackets of the end poles are situated in such a manner to allow flexibility and ease in mounting the hanger apparatus in a door jam or door frame at any location along the door frame and along either side of the door frame without interfering with the use of the door. The angled brackets further allow the hanger apparatus to be mounted to a wall. This hanger apparatus is flexible in mounting, as well as easy to mount. The hanger apparatus also has independently movable hanger bars. Although this hanger apparatus serves the user well, one drawback is that it contains a multitude of parts for the user to assemble.
The foregoing problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved in an illustrative embodiment of mountable hanger apparatus and a kit of parts therefore of the present invention in which the number of parts needed to be assembled is advantageously reduced over that of its predecessor. Furthermore, the direct interconnection of the hanger apparatus elongated member parts provides a sturdy construct in which the article support arms can pivot, swivel or rotate independent of each other. The mountable hangar apparatus comprises an elongated member having a longitudinal axis, a top end member segment, at least one intermediate member segment (preferably 2 or more), and a bottom end member segment. Advantageously, all of the member segments are longitudinally connectable along the longitudinal axis. The member also includes a top connector longitudinally interconnectable with and rotatable with respect to the top end segment and the intermediate segment along the longitudinal axis. The member further includes a bottom connector longitudinally interconnectable with and rotatable with respect to the intermediate member segment and the bottom end member segment along the longitudinal axis.
The apparatus also comprises top and bottom supports arms connectable with the top and bottom connectors, respectively, and radially extendable from the longitudinal axis. In another aspect, the apparatus can include additional connectors and intermediate member segments positioned in the elongated member on the longitudinal axis to advantageously increase the length of the hanger apparatus of which additional support arms are connectable to the added connectors for providing additional support arms on which to place towels and articles of clothing. In addition, the support arms are advantageously rotatable or pivotal about the longitudinal axis of the elongated member independent of each other. The hanger apparatus also includes top and bottom mounting brackets each having a first or an enlarged bracket end that is slideably connectable with the top and bottom end member segments, respectively. The second or smaller bracket end of each mounting bracket is connectable with a wall, door, frame, hinge, or the like. Most often, the smaller ends of the brackets are each attached to a door hinge by way of the door hinge pin for advantageous rotation of the hanger apparatus with respect to the door and the doorframe. Since the mounting brackets are slideably connectable with the end member segments, the longitudinal or vertical distance between the mounting brackets can be advantageously adjusted to accommodate just about any spacing between the door hinges of with the hanger apparatus is to be mounted to.
For ease of assembly and independent rotation or pivoting of the support arms, the end portions of the connectors and member segments are directly interconnectable both rotatably and longitudinally with one another along the longitudinal axis. The end portions of the member segments and connectors are threaded to advantageously facilitate interconnection and independent rotation of the connectors from which the support arms are radially extendable.
For like ease of assembly, the end portions of the support arms include a plurality of threads for interconnecting with another plurality of threads in the corresponding connector that are transverse to the longitudinal axis. The support arms are each connectable with a respective connector for radial extension from the elongated member of the apparatus and independent rotation of the support arms with respect to each other.
For adjusting the distance between the mounting brackets, each enlarged bracket end of the brackets includes a transverse member bore that slideably receives an end member segment. Each transverse member bore includes a beveled counterbore having an included angle ranging from 4xc2x0 to 12xc2x0. In addition, the hanger apparatus further comprises first and second compressible material O-ring seals positionable around the top and bottom end member segments and in the counterbore of each mounting bracket. To advantageously fix the vertical position of the hanger apparatus when mounted on, for example, a pair of door hinges, each enlarged bracket end includes a shoulder disposed between the transverse member bore and the beveled counterbore. The O-ring seal is positionable on the shoulder to be advantageously compressed and fix the relative position of the end segments with respect to the mounting brackets. With such a compression friction fit of the O-ring seals between the mounting bracket and the member end segments, the preferred included angle of the counterbore is 8xc2x0.
Alternatively, the mounting brackets can include a setscrew that is extendable into the transverse member bore to engage with and fixedly position an end member segment thereto.
The present invention also includes a kit of mountable hanger apparatus parts as previously and hereinafter described.
In another aspect of the present invention, the connectable or interconnectable parts of the hanger apparatus are connected to form a mountable hanger apparatus for connecting to a wall, door, frame, hinge, or the like.